A big mess for a small country

Garth Rattray, Contributor

PARENTS WHO have had to change their babies diapers will understand the significance of the statement, 'a big mess for a small country' as it relates to the extradition affair and its sequelae.

We all know that our 'baby' (our relatively, neonatal nation) soiled itself a long time ago but no one was willing to clean it up ... perhaps until now.

The mess stinks to high heavens and modern technology carried the stench across the globe. In spite of all the exposure, I feel that most Jamaicans do not fully appreciate the severe negative impact of the events over the past few weeks. The Jamaican diaspora (especially) in North America and Europe, is embarrassed and frightened by the brazen assault on civil society by armed and marauding gangs. Additionally, although everyone has heard anecdotes concerning area gang leaders and politics, most citizens remain stunned by the apparent depth and breadth of the existing covert collaboration that pertains between the two.

We prided ourselves in our music and, more recently, our sterling athletic achievements. We were admired by large and small nations alike because we portrayed exoticism, a laid-back yet extremely innovative, resilient and talented people and enviable natural resources. However, our international ascent was besmirched by our messy underside ... a situation that was instigated, nurtured, encouraged and tolerated by our politics. And now, the mess has been allowed to accumulate until it burst forth and some of it hit the proverbial fan.

Many Jamaicans abroad confess to denying or keeping quiet about their roots because they can't stand to be associated even remotely with the current image of a nation besieged by criminal gangs and betrayed by politicians that surreptitiously associate with them. And, amid all the recent finds and disclosures, we are still getting defensive answers, muteness and persistent declarations of ignorance from (supposed) public servants.

Costly mess

This was and continues to be a very costly mess. An already abbreviated workweek was laid to waste because of the security problem. Scheduled events were cancelled, flights re-routed, business and tourist arrivals postponed and/or cancelled, exports and imports delayed, income-generating activities derailed, schools and examinations disrupted and normal health services halted. The economic loss tallied up to hundreds of millions of dollars but the more enduring and perhaps irretrievable loss is that of confidence in the country ... this is incalculable.

The thing about mess is that it must be cleaned up or it will harm whatever produced it. Although we were all aware of the existence of the alliance between our politics and the alternative governance across the island, the true extent of it was hidden from the public. And so it festered and poisoned our society ... now comes the hard part, effecting positive change.

At last the security forces were allowed to go on the offensive - squeezing gangs and getting some illegal guns. Although some civil rights have been suspended during this state of emergency, human rights must never be suspended, compromised or ignored. Historically, whenever violence crescendoes in garrison communities, it is temporarily and partially suppressed only to sporadically and repeatedly erupt into bloody horror. We, therefore, need to concomitantly retake the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised or we are wasting time, money and, most importantly, lives.

No major political party is sinless. They both live in glass, albeit opaque houses so they should be careful about throwing stones. Now is the time for political co-operation and a nationwide catharsis. We cannot afford to waste this opportunity to clean up the mess and turn our country around.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical practitioner,who may be reached at garthrattray@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com